Our Light Within The Darkness
by FailingErin
Summary: Everything changed in a matter of seconds. The car crash was quick, and her body ached with pain. She held her eyes shut, letting the darkness consume her... Though when she opened her eyes, she was not greeted with death, but with life... Her new life that is. That life just happened to be with the Akatsuki. ItachixOC
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Hello everyone! It has been quiet a while since I have written something, but I have decided to give it a go again! Hope y'all like it! Before you read this up though, just a bit of a note before hand, this is a self insert story, but not at the same time. She is based on of my appearance and name, but she is completely different to who I am in real life. I wanted to make someone who I feel could adapt and grow in any situation, for I have a hard time doing so.**_

 _Description: Everything changed in a matter of seconds. The car crash was quick, and her body ached with pain. She held her eyes shut, letting the darkness consume her... Though when she opened her eyes, she was not greeted with death, but with life... Her new life that is. That life happened to be with the Akatsuki. ItachixOC_

-x-

 _Thump thump thump._ Her fast paced heart was all she could think of in the heat of the moment. Tears swelled in her eyes as realisation hit her dead on. Staring in disbelief, she could feel hiccups forming in her throat, as she looked at the man she had loved with all her heart. "T-this whole t-time?" Her words barely formed into a proper sentence, she couldn't help but start to shake. "M-mark, what the fuck are you telling me?" It was clear she was upset.

The tall man in front of her leaned forward, placing both hands under his chin, resting the weight of his head on them. His face held the look of boredom, but in his eyes, they proved his face was lying, showing some form of sadness. Grief? Mercy? She couldn't make it out.

"This whole time Erin. Well, I shouldn't say that, I would say about Three months in." He removed one of his hands to grab the coffee that lay in front of him. Taking a sip, he placed it down, not caring if it had spilled and stain the table-cloth below it. "It's been fucking two years Erin. Two fucking years of me waiting for you to give yourself to me. Every time I would make a move on you, you would just push me away. I wanted you. I longed for you." His eyes turned from sad to bitter, as his entire tone changed. The sweat that had started to form on his brow dried up as he spoke more and more from the heart. "We have never had sex Erin. Two years of not having sex with the person who I loved. Erica on the other hand has been very open with me, and actually has allowed me to touch her, feel her, and love her."

Erin couldn't stop the tears leaving her eyes. They fell freely as her heart broke with every word he said. This was the man she loved, the man who she had wanted to marry. All her dreams completely dissolved in front of her. The moment they walked into the café thought, everything changed.

He looked his ex girlfriend up and down, removing his hands from underneath his chin and started playing with them, trying to avoid looking her in the eye. "Look. It is harsh, I know, and trust me, I know about your past too and how it has affected your views on sex and what not, but honestly Eri..." Her heart stung as he shortened her name like the many times he had done before. "...Honestly, I have taken some time to think about it over the past few months. At one point I wanted to stop the affair, but then I remembered the direction this relationship was going, that being no where... So with that, I have decided it is best for us to part ways. I have fallen in love with Erica. Some who loves me just as much as I love them."

"I... I see." She tried to focus on her breathing, Erin was now aware that people were watching them discuss their break up. Shivering, she looked up at Mark, who had made it clear at this point he didn't care what she had to say, for he had made his point, and his point was all he was going to hear from this. Picking up a napkin, she wiped her tears and smudged makeup away, failing an attempt to try and fix her appearance, but her eyes were clearly still puffy and her make up now ruined.. All she wanted to do was leave. Though her heart beat loudly in her chest, her breathing had improved slightly. She did everything in her power to avoid a panic attack.. _Not in a public place like this_ she thought to herself.

Finishing his coffee with one big gulp, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve, rolling them up as he prepared to leave. Standing up, he stretched for a moment before heading to the door, but as he turned to leave, he shot her one last look, probably the last time he would see her before he went back to their place to get his stuff. Their eyes connected, and with venom he shot his last word. "Also, to be frank, you really, _really_ should stop watching those childish cartoons. You are 19 years old for gods sake, why don't you go out and socialize more instead of staying cramped up watching those damn shows. Maybe if you had friends to open up that could have saved us." With that, he stormed out of the café.

The whole place went quiet as she sat there, dead eyed, thinking over everything he had just said. A waitress scurried over, placing a soft and warming hand on Erin's back, placing a paid bill in front of her. The waitress smiled at her, whispering quietly so only she could hear it. "It's on us today. That guy was a jerk, I'm sorry things turned so sour for you two." She gave her one last pat before returning to serve more customers. Erin looked up, trying to smile, but all the muscles in her face seemed to fail her, almost as if they had given up for the day.

Standing from her chair, she walked out the café, the soft murmur of whispers from inside following her for a brief second until the door fully closed. Shivering, she rubbed her arms as her eyes adjusted to the bright morning light that lined the busy street.

 _Did that really just happen?_ Her heart sunk into her chest as she looked for her car along the street. It had only just hit Eleven A.M and already all she wanted to do was to go home and just die. Looking around, it wasn't that hard to find her car, the red color stood out against the silver, white and black cars that lined the long and busy street. Giving herself a sad shake, she waited for traffic to hit a red light before she bolted on to the street, opening the driver's side door and hopped into the front seat. Another wave of hiccups started to erupt from her throat, but she shook her head, closing her eyes tightly. _I have already embarrassed myself enough in public today, this is all becoming too much. If I am going to cry again, I'll do it in the comfort of my own home._

Erin slapped her cheeks, trying to pull herself out of her gloomy state. Pulling down the mirror above her head, she wanted to check her appearance with a slight worry of what she could find. As her eyes hit her own, she honestly wanted to die right then and there. Her olive colored eyes now were dry and irritated from her crying, and the makeup she had on had smudged down her cheeks. Her whole face was puffy and strands of her red dyed hair were sticking to around her eyes. She was a mess.

Pulling a pack of makeup wipes from her dashboard, she couldn't help but sigh to herself as this had become a common occurrence. Erin knew she was quiet the cry baby. With rough wipes, most of her make disappeared in seconds, exposing the freckles that once laid hidden underneath her foundation. She wasn't use to being bare face in public, but she would rather go naked then spend the day looking like whore getting off work on a Sunday morning. Throwing the wipes back on the dashboard, she turned on her car, pulling on to the busy street.

The city streets were loud and busy, people lining the side walks attempting to try and catch taxi's. Those who weren't screaming at taxi's were busy shopping the large selection of shops. The life that had filled Toronto's streets brought a small smile to her face as she watched people socialize with one and other. Thinking back to her and Mark's heated conversation, she felt her heart bang loudly in her chest once again as she realised some of his words were rather true. She didn't have that many friends, and she felt rather socially awkward.

Pulling up on a busy intersection, Erin's attention was soon grabbed as her phone began to vibrate in her pocket. Quick to pull it out, she noticed her the name of her cousin flash onto the screen, bring a light hearted smile to her face.

"Hello?" She answered quietly, voice slightly raspy from the earlier incident. A very flamboyant voice picked up on the other end, vibrating the phone as she scrambled to put it on speaker. It was illegal to talk on the phone while driving where she was from. "Good morning darling! Oh it is quiet the beautiful morning!" Her mood was instantly brightened as her cousin's voice was filled with sass and rainbows. Shaking her head, a smile now present on her face, she brought her hand to rest outside her window, feeling the wind move between her fingers.

"Now how is my little muffin doing? Oh how I have missed hearing your voice. Though, might I add, it sounds as though you have been through quiet the throat fucking with that rasp of yours. Did something happen to my snuggle bear?" Erin gave a sad smile, tapping her fingers along the side of her car. "Sadly. Apparently Mark has cheated on me this whole time." Her voice was sand and she felt her cheeks get hot and red, emotion smacking her right in the face. "With that being said, he ended it with me. Me and Mark are no longer an item." She bit back tears.

Silence filled the car as she waited for her cousins response. "To be completely honest, never like the guy." That _really_ didn't make her feel any better. "Then again I have voiced my opinion many times before hunny, so, sorry but totally not sorry – I'm kinda happy for you, as cruel as that may sound. My boo deserves a better.." He paused for a moment, bring the phone closer to his face. " _Man..._ " Husk clear in his voice. Erin couldn't help but laugh at the last bit, tapping her fingers on the wheel. "Fuck Cameron, since you have come out the sass levels are off the charts." She could hear him giggle. "Darling, please. I have always been the most sassy prince out there."

Slowly her mood increased as her cousin tried to lift her spirits, talking about how dumb men were and how they should go out drinking sometime, and with her current situation she was pretty down for it. By this time the start of lunch time traffic had made itself clear, though it wasn't as bad as it would be in about 10 more minutes she noted.

"Cammy?" She bit her lips, something tugging at her thoughts. "Why are you calling me anyways? Didn't you have that party to go to today? I know how long it takes you to prepare." Almost instantly the mood changed as her cousin cleared his voice, turning more serious. "Yeah, about that... There has been an accident." Her heart sunk into her chest yet again for the second time that day. "W-what do you mean?" She said frantically.

Clearing his voice yet again, she could tell just by the time he was taking that it wasn't good, her cousin wasn't one to normally worry about things or do anything to make herself worry. "Well..." He started off slow, almost as if he was building up for a reaction, though she picked up he wasn't doing it on purpose. "I went to go wake mom up for work this morning, and when I went into her room, she was unresponsive." Her heart almost stopped. "Turns out she had a bad stroke sometime during the night. We are in the hospital now, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, talking to you was all I wanted to do." Erin felt tears flow from her eyes, worry filling her soul as she started to speed up unintentionally. Before she could respond, Cameron beat her to the punch, clear sounds of sniffles breaking through his mic. "They don't think she is going to last the night, it's pretty bad..."

 _This can't be happening..._ Her aunt and cousin were the closest family she had, for they had practically brought her up. The though of losing the closest thing she had to a mother started ripping her apart. Bringing the hand she held out the window to her face to try to hide the sobs. "I'm sorry Erin, I know today has been rough." This was too much for her. All she wanted to do was cry.

"I-I don't know what to say Cammy..." Her lips quivered as she rubbed the tears running down her face. She could hear her cousin moving his phone around, the sound of his phone scraping against fabric was very loud but she could hear the voices of various people talking to her cousin. "I don't know what to do..." She whispered to herself as she sunk into her seat, the whole day crashing into her.

The sound of screeching tires brought Erin back to her senses as she looked around, trying to find what the hell made that noise. She watched in horror at her rear view mirror as the car behind her was rammed by another car going far faster than the speed limit, pushing it forward at an alarming speed. It only took Erin a second to realise the car was going to hit her, and she quickly braced herself, impact imminent. Closing her eyes, she counted down the seconds as the car flew itself in her direction, the sound of her cousin now returning to the phone breaking her heart as his shaky words broke the silence.

"E-Erin..?"

 _CRASH._

She sat in fear as the sound of scraping metal rang in her ears, making her wince in pain. Her body was flung forward, only to be caught by her seat belt as her cars tires scratched along the road, creating black skid marks along the gray pavement, pushing her car into incoming traffic. Opening her eyes to see what was happening, she was horrified to watch as cars slammed to a stop around her, honking loudly as her car moved towards them.

Before she could blink, Erin's car was hit again, this time right into her door, knocking the wind out of her chest. Hercarhad been pushed into another's path, the driver unable to stop as Erin's car had blocked every possible escape. The damage was catastrophic, her windshield shattering and air bags deploying as the metal body seemed to cave in around Erin.

Closing her eyes, she accepted the fact that she probably wouldn't survive her injuries. Her whole body ached, she could feel glass sink into her hands and face, and her door had now become part of her body. She felt blood run down her face as her once clean clothing become soaked in crimson. She felt darkness consume her body, as her mind faded into nothing. Death was more peaceful than it should have been.

 _-x- Else where, One hour earlier.-x-_

The early morning sun brightly shone down on a small dumpling shop, warming the temperature to the perfect degree as the smell of fresh-baked sweets and warm tea filled the air. Soft chatter and quiet laughter filled the atmosphere creating a light and airy feel to the little shop, creating a welcoming stop for travelers wanting to take a break from their journeys. It was a rather pleasant change of scenery for two cloaked figures with large straw like hats who had approached the shop, almost charmed by the appeal.

"It has been a long time since we have had a proper tasting meal, wouldn't you say?" A rugged voice pipped up, almost peaking with interest. Expecting no response from his partner, the two cloaked figures walked into the tiny shop, welcoming the smell to fully hit their noses. A rathery cheery waitress welcomed their guests as they walked in and took a seat at one of the tables that scattered the small building. Walking over to them, _almost_ skipping, she stood above their table, notebook out.

"Welcome, my name is Ruto, and I will be your server." She started off politely, her gestures almost cartoonish like she had done it many times before. Tilting her head, she smiled, bringing her notepad up close to her face ready to write their order. "What can I get you folks?"

"Gosh ain't you just a beauty." The rough voice spoke again from under his hat. Knowing they were in a smaller village, and knowing their reputation, the man took off his hat exposing rugged blue hair and blue-tinted skin. His partner soon following, letting raven locks flow freely as he pulled off his hat. The waitress, with no surprise to the blue man shivered at his appearance, but kept her composure and smile. "Thank you for the compliment sir." The charm in her voice losing power as she attempted to keep her cool in front of the strange man.

His quiet partner spoke, his sharingan turned off revealing dark yet glassy black eyes. "Green tea for the both of us, as well as two orders of dango." Kisame looked towards Itachi with a giant sigh following, respectfully hating the Uchiha for rushing with their order, wanting to play with the girl a bit more. The waitress scribbled the order down, giving a clearly fake smile, bowing and heading to retrieve their orders, leaving the two alone to talk with each other for a bit.

"Ya know, if I weren't blue I'm pretty sure I could land a girl like her." Kisame spoke up, tapping his fingers on the table, clearly annoyed at the response that he had gotten. Itachi silently hummed to himself, looking off in the distance, enjoying the fact that he had time to actually sit down and take a break from their travels. They had been on a long mission to start collecting information on the tailed beasts, but their lead had turned out to be false, so now they had started their journey back towards the Akatsuki base.

It wasn't long before the waitress returned, tea in one hand, dango in the other. She quietly apologised for the wait and bowed before heading back to the cash register, clearly pondering why she had chosen her current job in the first was easily the first to start eating, with a ghost of a smirk lining the Uchiha's face as he savoured the flavor. He had grown tired of living off of Military ration pills and small campfire meals. Kisame looked at his partner and just smirked, acknowledging that fact that he was enjoying himself and the solitude of the tiny village.

It only took them about 5 minutes to finish their quick meal, leaning close to each other lowering their voices so that they were not to be heard. "Ya know," Kisame sighed to himself, bringing one his hands to rest underneath his chin. "I am _really_ not looking forward to the rant we will surely be getting when we get back from leader-sama." TheUchihanodded his head ever so lightly, looking around the room to make sure no one was listening. "Though I must say that I am not complaining on an early trip home." He gave a big toothy grin, and though Itachi could try to look blank faced, he couldn't help but pass a smirk towards his partner. He himself was also looking forward to going home. For months they had been on constant missions, but now that everyone was bringing back as much information as they could to start the process of gathering the tailed beasts, their leader was allowing them to have some time off after the mission was finished. Itachi couldn't lie though, the thought of sleeping in a warm bed was rather pleasant.

"I am quiet worried to be completely honest. We found no other leads to the information that we were seeking." Itachispoke up, bringing his hands up to his hair to try and tighten his low pony tail. "It was almost as if all the leads had vanished..." He trailed off, his mind wandering. Kisame nodded, removing his hand from underneath his chin, moving to stretch and crack his back, before sitting upright normally. "I agree, and the civilians gave us no help either. Though, there isn't much we can do for that." Itachi hummed in agreement as they both took this chance to rise from the table, heading towards the cash register to pay for their meals.

Leaving the dumpling shop, they both returned their hats on top of their head, heading towards the direction of their base. Itachi placed his gaze on the road in front, activating his sharingan. It would take about 3 days for them to reach their destination with no stops at Ninja speed, but the casual speed they were travelling at would take them up to 5 days.

Kisame looked towards his partner, noticing he was oddly more silent than usual, though he didn't press the matter. Just like any other human, Itachi had his good days and his bad, he learned that much during the time he had spent with his partner. Looking towards the road, Kisame noticed something heading towards them in a fairly rushed matter. "You sense that?" Though Itachi didn't respond, Kisame heard his partner step off the road to the right, towards the trees that lined the small street. Kisame couldn't help but smile at his partner, following closely behind. "interesting..."

In front of them, a team of ninja sprinted along the road as they followed a chakra trail. It wasn't long until they caught up to where the two Akatsuki members were moments before, but the duo had been prepared and now laid well hidden from their enemies.

The group of what appeared to be Konoha ninja passed by them as they went towards the dumpling shop they once were in. Itachi looked over to Kisame who was a few yards behind him, hiding behind a tree silently waiting fortheUchiha's command. They caught each others eyes for a brief second, then almost instantly they both started hand signs. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Two shadow clones appeared beside the raven in his appearance. In a matter of seconds,Kisame too had two similar shadow clones, tailored to his strange appearance. One of each clone paired with each other in different directions, before the real Akatsuki members nodded to each other, and travelled farther in to one of the many forests of the land of fire.

The pair travelled in silence, using minimal chakra to run the tree tops at a decent speed. They used all their senses to constantly check around each other, unknowing if the enemy would show up again. After about half an hour, Kisamefinally broke the silence, slowing his pace. "It appears as though they have stopped following." Looking to his partner, he too slowed down, turning around one last time to give the area a good look over. The blue man couldn't help but chuckle at his partner as he was being more cautious than usual.

"Itachi." Kisame pulled himself to a stop, perching himself on a large branch that would support his weight. The raven glanced up towards the blue man, curiosity peaking in his eyes. "You have been acting quiet different recently." Itachilooked away from his partner, but continued to listen. "Is there something bothering you lately? You seem more off andto be quiet honest more distant, cold even. I am not one to push the issue, but I need to know if this issue you are dealing with will affect the way we work with each other." Red eyes locked with his small pearls as the Uchiha sighed. Placing his hand on the tree beside him, he turned his gaze away once more, before speaking up. "It's his birthday soon."

Not poking at the matter more, Kisame nodded, turning on his heel to continue running again until something caught his eye, and he couldn't help but smile at what lay ahead. "Well well well..." He gave his own type of bark before hopping down to the ground. Itachi looked down towards his partner only to see a girl who was resting close to the base of the one of the trees close by. Curious, he popped down beside Kisame, examining the girl with caution.

She was very average looking, red hair clearly dyed, the brown roots exposed. Pale skin covered with hundreds of light freckles, it was clear by her lack of scars underneath her current wounds that this girl was a civilian, though the girl had been gravely injured in some sort of fight or accident. A large gash that was heavily bleeding appeared along one of her eyebrows following a blackened eye. Her nose appeared to be bruised, possibly even broken as a small trail of blood seemed to leak from it, falling on to her lips that appeared to be busted open in multiple places. Looking down towards her body, her clothes seemed rather strange to him. She wore some sort of loose sweater that stopped right above her elbows, and her pants appeared to be ripped in a few spots but they weren't sure if that was part of the design or not. In the end though, all her clothes had small stains of blood. The parts of her arms and legs that were exposed showed cuts and large bruises, and her hands appeared to have glass digging into them. Looking down at her feet, she only wore one sandal that had clearly been torn in multiple places.

Kisame give her a good-looking over along with Itachi, both standing over her unconscious body. They were quiet confused, Kisame being the first to speak after 2 minutes of silence, no one touching the girl. "What a peculiar sight." He couldn't help but crouch down and grab her hand, checking for a pulse. Itachi looked at the girl some more, but giving little care to who she was and what had happened to her, though he couldn't help but stare at her condition.

"She's alive." Kisame stood up, taking a moment to stretch his back out from the crouching he just did. "Barely at that." Looking at her pitiful appearance for one last moment, he turned his attention to his comrade who was staring at her near lifeless body. "What ever trauma this girl went through must have been painful. I almost want to put her out of her misery, poor thing." He flashed a toothy grin towards the girl, reaching for Samehada, but was quickly stopped by the raven. "On the account of not knowing if she has internal damage, at this rate and her pulse declining, I believe she will die on her own very soon." His words were somewhat cold, yet in a way Kisame almost heard the faint amount of pity. Retracting his hand, he then turned it upwards to scratch his head, still retaining his grin. "Alright partner, if that what you think is right."

With a nod, Itachi turned to walk away, Kisame soon following, but just as he went to step forward, his attention snapped to his foot as he felt a tight grip on the fabric of his sandals. He couldn't help but chuckle as he turned to face the girl again. Itachi noticed his partners harsh turn, and his gaze fell at the girls face, only to be caught with the frightened stare of the strange woman.

"Well well, look who decided to join the world of the living." Kisame chuckled, as the girls fearful expression bounced from partner to partner. All she did was stare, as her grip tightened. Kisame crouched back down, bringing his face close to hers, inspecting it, not caring if she winced or not at his sudden closeness. Expecting a reaction, he smiled big, showing his jagged shark like teeth. The girl looked him up and down, but her reaction was not what he expected.

Her eyes showed shock, and her mouth opened slightly as if to speak, only for her to stumble on her words, mouth dryer then the desert. "I..." She closed her mouth, attempting to pull what ever saliva she had left to try and help her speak. "I-I'm alive?

-x-

 _ **This chapter took two days to write and I am so happy now that it is finished. It was a joy to write, I have worked on story ideas for weeks and building up a character that everyone might like. My goal is to make Erin likeable, friendly, yet fairly quiet around strangers. I want to try and make a character not like any I have seen with these types of fan fiction.**_

 _ **Here is a little more info on Erin. She is about 5'7, and her eyes are a beautiful olive colour. When she was in her world, they held a little bit of brown and gold within them, but since she will be in a whole new world I decided to give her just straight Olive eyes. Her natural hair color is a dark brown, though she prefers it red or black, and she constantly switches between the two. That being said her hair is long and wavy, though when she had the time in the morning, she would straighten it. She is about average build, and her face and shoulders are littered with light freckles.**_

 _ **Anyways, thank you all for reading! I will try to update this as often as I can, though I do not know then this will be.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Thank you everyone for the favourites and follows on this story, I'm happy to see that some of you are enjoying at least the beginning of it ha ha. It feels rather strange, wanting to write so badly again, it's rather nice to be honest. Anyways! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**_

-x-

" _...Misery..."_

The first thing she noticed was her chest felt like it was _burning._ Never in her life had she experience the sensation and to say it is just painful would be an understatement. With every breath, she could feel her lungs wheezing, trying their hardest for some fresh air. She raised her arm to touch her chest, only to experience shooting paint throughout her body.

Erin's eyes fluttered open, instantly blinded by the light and woozy from the ringing in her ears. She looked around, expecting to see her car completely destroyed around her, but instead she felt a calming breeze along her face, the sun above her head shone brightly into the forest she appeared to be in. The smell of sweet grass in an odd way soothed her, as her blurry vision returned to normal, looking around to find that two oddly dressed people stood in front of her, walking away.

Wide eyed, she ignored the pain inside her chest as she practically threw her arm towards the closest figure, landing on what appeared to be white fabric lining his shoes. In her head, their outfits looked familiar, but her mind was too groggy to focus on them. Almost instantly, the man snapped around, turning towards her, almost in shock that she managed to keep her eyes open.

The figure moved inwards towards her body, he crouched down and looked her dead in the eye, pearl orbs catching her olive eyes. In a state of shock, she looked around his face picking up small definable characteristics. Blue skin, small light gray eyes, black markings below his eyes... Her eyes widened as almost instantly a light came on in her head, staring back at the man. Those weren't black markings below his eyes... _Those were gills._

In a state of shock, she turned towards the other man, looking for any reaction only for her eyes to stop dead at his. They almost glowed a deep crimson read, focusing intently on her actions, almost expecting her to do something suspicious, yet almost looking at her as if she was some kind of monster. She couldn't help but feel a chill run up her spine as she caught what appeared to be coal-black locks of hair falling from his hat, framing his face. Then she picked up the clearly evident stress lines that fell below his eyes.

Her heart almost stopped as she realised who she was staring at, quickly avoiding her gaze and returning to the blue man who had now decided to show her a large toothy grin. She could feel a grumble come from his throat as he started to talk, leaning in closer and closer to look her in the eyes. "Well well, look who decided to join the world of the living." She could hear him chuckle as he looked her down one last time, expecting some sort of fear to show in her eyes. Erin swallowed dryly, coughing slightly but returning her gaze to his partner one more time before looking back at the man that stood in front of her. She opened her mouth, lost for words, her mind fumbling not in fear, but in just utter shock of the situation.

"I.." She felt her dry voice crack as she opened her mouth to try and speak. The blue man looked at her, almost losing his grin but curious to hear what she had to say. "I-i'm alive?" She couldn't help but cough as the air parched her mouth even more. She looked at the men in disbelief and curiosity. She could feel the blue man look at her strangely before chuckling again, standing from his crouched spot. "Of course you are alive girly. Though I must say, I am shocked you are even awake."

She gave a slight nod, pain radiating down her back as she gripped the ground below, attempting to stand. As quickly as she caught her footing she lost it, only to drop back down almost like dead weight as her legs gave out without much effort. She could almost feel the mans bark as she tried her hardest to stand up only to fall again and again.

Kisame looked towards his partner who had now almost lost interest in the girl. Itachi held no expression as he started unbuttoning the top of his cloak to let his arm rest outwards. Kisame sighed at his partners response, turning back to the girl, amused at her determination to stand up. "Now girly, do you mind telling us how a civilian girl like you ended out in the middle of the forest where all these..." He leaned forward, placing his hands on his hips, almost barking in laughter. " _Bad_ evil ninja like to roam around?"

Erin looked up to the blue man, grasping the tree behind her, actually pulling herself up into a slouched in pain stance. She caught his eyes, a glimmer of amusement, as she looked down, feeling rather awkward for the situation she was in. "I... I'm not sure myself..." She trailed off, trying to force her mouth to produce some sort of saliva to help her talk, her throat was starting to hurt and croak. "T-there... I was in an accident." She now looked down to her arms and knees, seeing the huge bruises and occasional cuts that now covered her once alabaster skin. Another shiver travelled up her spine as the man kept his gaze on her, expecting more of a response. "I-I should be dead..."

"Right, you should, but you aren't." He responded, crossing his arms on his chest, clearly starting to get bored. He watched her shuffle around, trying to adjust her legs to her weight again as she gained her composure. "With that being said, what village are you from?"

Erin looked at the two men, taking not of the lack of intrest the raven of the pair was showing as she attempted to stand up fully, catching herself. _My chest is killing me..._ She though before looking at the men around her. She knew who they were, Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, but she wasn't sure this was the situation to bring up the fact that she knew who the men were. They were dangerous S classed criminals in the shinobi bingo book, but she also didn't know where in the time line she stood. So many questions were running through her head.

Naruto was one of her favourite anime's back where she was from. She and her cousin would constantly watch it in their free time back when they lived together. It was also the anime she watched when she was with Mark... She shook her head slightly to herself, causing Kisame to raise a curious eyebrow. _Now is not the time..._ She thought to herself as she looked up towards the fish man. _What if this was all just a dream..._ She waved her thoughts away as the realisation hit her as if she were running into a wall of bricks. _No... If this were a dream I wouldn't have the injuries from the accident and be in complete pain like I am now.._ The pain was real. The blood that dripped from her wounds were real. So to her, these men were real, that was the only logical reason.

"I-I'm not from around here..." She coughed as the burning in her chest seemed to burn more and more. Kisame looked at her with a crooked eyebrow, following along with her words. "I'm from C-Canada..." The blue man barked, leaning towards the girl bringing his hand up to Samehada, stroking the shaft of his sword with a slight amount of killing intent. "Now girly, you and I both know this... 'Canada', isn't a real place." Erin gulped, trying her best not to start panicking as the situation turned more hostile. "It is... Canada is my home... I-I'm not from around here..." The sudden realisation that she was no longer home broke her heart a bit as she thought back to her cousin who was in a call with her at the time of the accident. Taking a moment to look around the ground, she prayed for her cellphone, her purse, _something_ from home to be around her feet but nothing appeared to be there. It was just her and her clothes, that was all she had to her name.

Kisame looked at the girl, confused at her actions, looking to Itachi for some sort of help in the matter. He knew his partner could care less, but something about this girl... Something about her pulled Kisame into a sort of lull, rather curious about the girl. Itachi caught his partners eyes, turning to the girl and walking up beside him, taking note of the fish man's behaviour. Erin looked upwards as she somewhat felt surrounded, making her heart rate increase. She caught his red eyes again, feeling his cold stare chilling her to the bone as she felt a hand snake underneath her chin to pull her head upwards to face the Uchiha. Kisame, curious, watched his partner in awe as he clearly affected the girls ' overall mood.

"We will ask one more time girl, where are you _from._ " His words spat out like venom, his eyes never leaving her gaze, watching her face closely. Erin's breathing became short and quick, as her anxiety went through the roof, for she never expected to be in this sort of position. She didn't want to be there, she wanted to leave, she wanted to go home and cuddle the blankets that lay on her bed. If she were to put in her own words how his gaze affected her, she would only choose two words to describe it. _Eye rape._ Though, she couldn't pull her eyes away from his, even though they were cold and dark, they sucked her in.

"...I'm..." She could only whisper, she felt like a cornered and scared puppy, yet she didn't want to talk too loudly, she didn't know what, but in a weird way she felt she had to hush herself. She momentarily looked away from his eyes, zoning off, thinking, She knew they wouldn't believe her, they were trained to trust nobody, but she knew who she was dealing with and his past, but the look he gave her could almost betray what she knew. She also knew that would never be true. "...Very far from my home..." She whispered, she could feel tears swelling as she turn her gaze back to his, his cold stare still evident. "Very, _very_ far away from my home..." A single tear fell and caressed her bruised face, the salt stinging her open wounds. "Too far..."

Itachi watched her facial movements, he looked for any sort of lie in her features as she spoke, though the only true emotion he could see in her eyes was _pain._

Suddenly he turned from an 'uncaring' to a caring one, something was rather off about this girl. It perked his interest. She looked back into his eyes, tears falling from them, in some ways reminding the Uchiha of his brother... No, he wouldn't put her to match his little brother. Not now. "I r-really am from a place called Canada..." She continued, still frozen from his crimson gaze. "M-my home, is quiet far away from here... I-I don't even think I can get back myself..." Her voice lowered even more to the point where they almost became inaudible, though the Uchiha's ears were able to pick them up. "I was in a crash... I honestly expected to die..." She looked down, her body starting to slump as she almost drifted off to sleep, but she shook her head in an attempt continued talking. "I... wanted to die." She felt a cough pass her lips, noticing an odd taste that lingered in her mouth afterwards, her chest felt on fire as she pushed herself to talk. "Next thing I knew... I woke up here. I-I don't know where I am or what to do..."

The Uchiha removed his hand, somewhat satisfied with the girls answer, though he knew the condition she was in could have possibly altered some of the memories this girl had. Still, he was curious where she got the name 'Canada' from. "Kisame." He turned to look at his partner. The blue man turned curiously, looking into his red eyes. "Aye?" Itachi turned to respond before he was interrupted by a loud cough, the girl stumbling backwards to brace against the tree.

Erin closed her eyes as she lost control of her lungs, she couldn't stop coughing. She brought her hand to cover her mouth only for it to be splashed with some sort of liquid as she hacked. It took her about a minute to calm down as she gripped her chest in pain. _I have never felt like this before._ A sweat covered her brow as she looked upwards to the men who stood in front of her, then back down at her hands, curious to see what had come out. Her heart almost stopped as she saw her hand _dripping_ with her blood. _Her own blood._

Her head started to pound as she slowly lost her footing, crashing towards the ground. Her eyes caught with the Uchihathat stood in front of her, and she fully expected for him to let her drop to the ground with a thud... Though the thud never came. Her vision became blurry and double as she attempted to keep her eyes open, trying to use her other senses to hear and feel what was going on, but she could feel strong arms wrap around her, keeping her from falling.

Itachi watched as the girl went from a 4 to a sudden 0 with her condition as blood dribbled from her fingers. She wobbled as she held on to the tree for support, bringing her hand to her face to try to silence her coughing but was unsuccessful. The girl shivered as she brought her hand to her face to see what she was coughing up, only for her face to completely lose its colour. Within seconds her body fell forward as she lost her footing - too shocked to catch herself.

The raven was quick the girl as he felt her body become that of a rag doll as the girl fought to stay awake. Kisame looked towards the two and couldn't help but chuckle at what was happening. "My my, what a case she is, aye?" He looked at the Uchiha who stared down at the girl who know was in his grip. He watched as his partner zoned out on the woman,lost in his own thoughts. They stood there for what seemed like an hour before they felt a large group of chakra barreling towards the trio. Itachi looked to his partner as the blue man shrugged, smiling at the sudden change of atmosphere. "Guess they found us eh?"

Itachi looked down at the girl in his arms, tightening his grip as he turned to look behind him. _They are getting closer..._ he thought, as their enemies chakra became less clumped and he could start to make out each of their individual signatures. They were certainly the ninja from before. Looking back down, he threw her over his shoulders without thinking, and started climbing the tree in front of him, partner quick to follow. He heard Kisame's chuckle as they started to hop the tree tops, quickening their pace.

"Bringing the girl are we?" Kisame's rough voice continued to laugh as they continued forward.

Itachi let out a soft sigh as he felt his brow twitch in a slight annoyance. The dead weight on his shoulder was slowing him down. "It would be very logical. This girl could have told them who she saw where we had gone and how we found her. Either way, if we had killed her we would have just alerted them to put up more posts and send out more ninja's totry and catch us if we are to ever end up back out here again." Kisame just continued to smile, only responding with "Aye.." as the two propelled forward, attempting to lose the group of leaf ninja who followed closely behind them without a fight.

Erin closed her eyes as she felt her eyes close as sleep threatened to take her. She was far away from home, alone, with two criminals who only had kept her alive so that she wouldn't rat. She gripped the Uchiha's cloak with the last bit of her energy, before losing the battle and falling asleep. Erin felt one last tear leave her eyes as she accepted the darkness consuming her yet again. This was not a situation she wanted to be in. _All I want to do is go home..._

Sleep was almost instant.

-x-

 _ **A/N: I am rather enjoying writing again, this one came to me more fluently, as I feel after the first chapter writing has become more easy for me much like it use to be. It is quiet nice to be completely honest.**_

 _ **Some more facts about Erin: Her favorite character in Naruto has been Itachi since his debut in the anime. She often would spend nights when she was a child drawing stress marks on her face to try and mimic theUchiha, it was quiet cute to her parents. Anyways, thank you guys for reading! I should have another chapter up by tomorrow – so cheers everyone!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Thank you everyone for all the support with the story so far! Warms my heart to know that people are actually reading this, let alone liking it. It really does make me want to write more, to the point where I'm neglecting my boyfriend... Horrible, I know right? Be he obsesses over his own anime and anime characters so we just leave each other alone.**_

 _ **Anyways – hope y'all enjoy!**_

-x-

The smell of smoke and burning wood filled her nose as her senses came to. The soft spitting of a fire warmed her up out of her dead slumber, as the radiating heat made her body tingle, the glow allowing her eyes to adjust. Erin slowly opened her eyes only to close them almost instantly as smoke brushed against their sensitive surface, causing a light stinging sensation.

To her surprise, as she moved her arms around to bring them up to rub her eyes, she quickly realised her body was covered in a heavy cloak, black and red clouds clearly etched into the fabric. Looking around, taking note of the light burning fire creating a minimal amount of light, her eyes landed on two figures, side by side.

Itachi gazed into the fire, cloak-less and clearly dazed in thought, while his partner Kisame laid beside him on a thin and light bedroll. Erin couldn't help but internally gasp as she remembered all the events that had happened earlier, a dull pain reminding her of her injuries. Bringing her hands up to hold her head, a quick realisation dawned on her as she felt her hands tightly restrained, causing a light amount of anxiety to bubble in her stomach.

Grumbling lightly, after about a minute of soaking in the heat of the fire - Erin realised she was baking alive under the cloak that was resting on her body. Hesitant, she lifted her restrained hands out from underneath to escape the sauna now engulfed her body. Noticing the lack of pain, she looked over her arms to see that many of her wounds she recievedthe other day were bandaged. Curious, she brought her head to look toward the two members only to be greeted with a cold and emotionless coal gaze staring into her soul, almost burning a hole.

Feeling instantly uncomfortable, she pulled herself upwards, torso now exposed to the chilled evening elements as she attempted to bring her back into a more upright position. Sniffling and letting out a stiff cough, she looked towards her now captures, giving the smallest of a smile as she found herself looking at the Uchiha.

"G-good evening..." She dryly let out, ignoring the rough pain of a dry mouth and sore throat that protested her from talking. Watching the raven with curious eyes she noticed him give almost a ghostly nod before returning his gaze towards the fire, his partner shuffling around in his sleep, distracted by his dreams. Looking back at her hands, she couldn't help but ball them into small fists as she silently let out a sigh before speaking again. "Thank you... for the cloak and bandages." She felt a quiver in her voice.

Looking up from the camp fire, Itachi moved his attention to the girl now restrained by tight knots of rope. It was his idea to tie her up, a random civilian with serious injuries clearly had done something in order to be beaten that badly. Thinking back to earlier that evening, they had long since left the presence of the shinobi that had followed thempreviously, probably hoping to cash in on their bounty.

Itachi eventually slowed his pace to a complete stop, looking towards his partner. The shark man chuckled lightly as he caught sight of the girl's near lifeless corpse with some sort of sickening greed, acknowledging their situation. "So, what shall we be doing with this _girly._ " Itachi casually put the girl on the ground, lifting the weight off his now aching shoulder. Giving a light and barely noticeable stretch, he looked down towards the girl who shrivelled up in her sleep due to the internal injuries that plagued her with pain. Sighing, he looked back towards his partner, giving a light shrug. "I only brought her due to the fact that if we had left her there to die on her own, there was a chance that she could live. Anyone who would have found her could have easily conned her in to given away the fact that she had seen and interacted with us. Though I do not care what happens to her now." His words were cold but true. Kisame sighed, still smiling as curled his finger tips, reaching for his beloved Samehada, almost playing with it.

"You know, this kid..." His somewhat quiet words bought the attention of the Uchiha who had rarely heard his partner talk quietly. Though their travels were generally filled with little to no talking, his voice being below a certain volume was quiet interesting. Kisame's fingers dance around Samehada a bit more before he brought them down, crossing his arms.

"...Normally I would have no problem _killing_ someone like her in an instant. She appears to be useless, gravely injured, and probably about to die all on her own, but there _is_ something about her..." He stopped, eyes trailing down her body, taking in her appearance, her stance, her _aura._ His eyes were unnaturally curious about another indivdual. "Something about her seems rather strange." Silence filled his ears, but he smiled, he knew his partner wouldn't respond. "What a joke right?" He barked at his own words, the atrocity that these were the words coming out of his own mouth, a cold-blooded killer.

Itachi turned his gaze back to the red head, folding his arms in a quiet thought. Something truly did feel unnatural about the girl, he couldn't deny that. Her words rang through his head, going back to their previous conversation back when they had found her. "...Canada." He spoke up to himself, a rare thing for him to think out loud. Kisame smiled, looking at his partner.

"Though I must add that girl clearly must have bumped her head. _Canada_? What a ridiculous name she spurted out." The blue man walked off into the forest, his intentions on gathering wood for a fire clear.

Itachi sighed, his fingers fidgeting with his ring under the long sleeves of his cloak. This girl clearly meant nothing to him, but why did he have mixed feelings about ending her life? He had done it so many times before, his past coming to mind, the Uchiha massacre and all the other lives before and afterwards. Though this girl? She seemed odd, persistent on this 'Canada'. It wasn't her looks that helped this situation, she was average if anything. No makeup, clearly not athletic, the only thing done up about her was her eyebrows and her hair. In the end, he found himself being lulled by the unconscious girl. _I'm starting to get soft..._ He thought to himself, hesitantly picking up the girl and moving her so her body sat upwards on a tree.

Clicking his tongue inside his mouth, feeling quiet irritated with his decision. He gave the girl one last look over before pulling out some bandages that he held inside his cloak, as well as small other essentials that he hid well. Learning from his mistakes during past missions, he knew to keep some essentials lying around hidden from his partner. The girl shuffled for the first time in a while and moaned out pain as she coughed in her sleep. It was clear she had various internal injuries, though there wasn't much he could do about those, but he did know a small amount of medicalninjutsu from his stint in Anbu. It would at least allow her to live a few more days before getting help, though he was quiet tired. The events during this mission had drained him quiet a bit, he worried about his lack of current chakra.

Kisame returned shortly after, firewood in hand, smiling a big shark like grin towards his partner who had now begun cleaning the girl up. It was almost as if the Uchiha was trying to make her look presentable. "The girl shall live eh?" He gave a small laugh before setting up their camp. A dull "Hn." Was all that was heard from the Uchiha, wetting a rag with water from his canteen that he hid inside one of his pouches. Looking back at the girl, he dabbed at her wounds, cleaning off all visible blood before warping her bruised skin in the light bandages. The sun had started to set, creating a luminous glow to the darkening sky.

Finished setting up the fire, Kisame looked towards Itachi, watching his actions curiously. "Wood is ready for wheneveryou are." He mentioned, placing his sword down before sitting down by a tree. Content with the situation, the shark man hummed as he closed his eyes, feeling the night draw inwards. _One of the perks of having a Uchiha..._ Kisame smirked to himself, bringing his hands behind his head, clearly becoming lazy for the night. _Free fire starter._

Itachi nodded to his partner, finishing up on the girls showing injuries before turning towards the fire. Doing quick hand signs, he brought his fingers to his mouth, whispering quietly "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu." Surrounding the area in a large ball of flame, though he lowered his chakra so he wouldn't set the forest on fire. Lowering his hands, he grunted slightly, feeling his chakra levels plummet lower than he had expected. Kisame noted his partners response after performing the jutsu, but he decided to not bring it up. They had been on a long journey, it was to be expected.

Bringing up a reluctant glowing hand to the girls chest, he sat there sending healing chakra throughout her body. He could only do it for ten minutes, but he was somewhat proud of him self remembering the basics. Seeing minute changes in the scratches and bruises on her face, It was only then he realised this girl was around his age, though he wasn't sure if she was older or younger, but just around. Removing his hand, he took off his cloak and laid it on her body to keep her warm in an attempt to help along her healing process, expecting the night to be chilly, though not before wrapping her hands tightly with the small amount of chakra infused rope that he had. _We should really come moreprepared, we aren't really in a position to bring people back to the base._

Walking towards the fire to poke it for a brief moment, he heard a grunt as Kisame adjusted himself from his spot. "I'm assuming you are keeping watch for the first bit." His partner said with a slight yawn to his voice. Though tired himself,Itachi nodded, sitting himself close to the fire to keep it running. "You're a pal." He heard the blue man say, quickly bringing out his bedroll in attempt to sleep the cold night away. In a matter of minutes he was dead to the world.

Four hours passed and he now sit there with the girl waking up and thanking him for his cloak, clearly a slight confusion to her current situation. Cracking his neck slightly, he brought a stick up to poke the now small fire, ignoring the draining tiredness that crept in the back of his head. "Hn.." He softly replied, shifting his weight around.

Erin looked down at her hands, playing with her thumbs lightly as she took note of her injuries. She was still in pain, but clearly one of the two, most like Itachi due to his cloak resting on her body, had attempted to heal her. Though the bandages were clearly just rolled on, a tight knot keeping them in place, her chest felt better than before, but the cough still was there, and her head pounded, though the headaches she had back at home were much worse than this.

 _Home..._ She missed home, but she knew now was not the time to mope around at cry, begging to go home. She had two S ranked criminals keeping watch on her, though one asleep, the other clearly watch. She opened and closed her hands, her mind still curious how she ended up in this situation, here in what seemed to only be an anime world a few days before. Erin was stunned. She was now physically here. _Maybe I'm just in a really deep coma._ She smiled sadly to herself, expecting her cousin to be there, cuddling her injured body whispering stupid shit to try and mess with her brain. Though she knew it was a happy thought, she clearly doubted this was the case. _This whole situation is just off..._

Looking up, she noticed the Uchiha's once coal eyes had turn a crimson red, and somehow she couldn't help but feel a light ping of excitement. She had always seen people wear contacts at the few conventions she had attended, but the real thing gave a chilling glow with the darkness of the night. Calming herself down, she turned her gaze down, whispering as light as she could to not wake his partner. "I didn't mention it before.." She started, clearly gaining his full attention. "..But my name is Erianna." She awkwardly shifted her weight around as she could feel his cold stare. Itachicouldn't help but repeat the name in his head. It was clearly a foreign, he had never heard of such a strange name. "...Though my friends..." Her heart stung as she realised then she really didn't have any friends. "...Family, call me Erin."

Leaning his head back against the tree, Itachi moved his eyes towards the partly cloudy sky, ignoring the confused look the girl was giving him. Erin couldn't help but blush at the thought that one of the people she idolized was sitting right in front of her, though she quickly caught herself before he turned his eyes back onto her.

"...What were you doing alone in the forest injured like that _Erianna._ " His voice was soft, the way he said her name sent chills down her spine. It was clear he wasn't use to saying a name like that. Swallowing, she searched her brain for answers. Should she tell him the truth? She already mentioned Canada, though it was clear they had never heard of the place before. Erin sighed, she didn't know what to do.

"I have told you before, I am from a place called Canada... The city I lived in was called Toronto..." She returned to playing with her thumbs, concentrating on the red clouds that lined on his cloak. She didn't really want to see his eyes, for she knew what they could do. "I was in a terrible accident..." She couldn't help the dark tone in her voice. "The pain hit me instantly.. I closed my eyes, and next thing I knew, I had passed out... When I woke up, I was in the forest."

The Uchiha was silent, processing her words. _She is being quiet brief about this 'accident'_ he thought to himself, standing up and walking towards her. Erin couldn't help but feel her heart stop beating as she heard him stand and close in on her. She wanted to stand up and run away, fearful of what this man, Itachi Uchiha could do to her. He crouched down, bringing his hand to her chin and raising her face upwards to look into his eyes. He gave a light smirk at the clearly evident fear that covered her face. She knew who he was, or at least the situation she was in. This was not a family camping trip.

"Tell me about this accident." His words were simple, but his tone was absolutely _chilling._ She couldn't help but stare into his red eyes, taking in every detail. She knew she shouldn't, but they seemed to pull her in with ease. She swallowed her pride as she continued to stare. "A... car accident."

Examine her features, she could feel his breath on her face, his smell, it was interesting to her. " _Car?_ " She could tell he was curious, yet his lacked any feeling that he had believed her. He smirked at her obvious discomfort of him being so close, she squirmed as his breath touched her face, he couldn't help but inch closer out of amusement. Erin opened her mouth to respond, only to turn away and coughed lightly into her shoulder, facing away from the Uchiha. Blushing profusely, she turned back only noticed how closely he was watching her.

"...Of course you don't know what a car is." She looked downwards, attempting to concentrate on something else other than the Uchiha. "It's... I-it is like a metal box on wheels... people where I am from use it for transportation." She returned her gaze upwards to see his eyes. The glowing red made it impossible for her to see any emotions, but they swirled around - almost creating a look of curiosity. "...W-we use them for transportation. Ya know... Point a to point b. They are very fast, and they allow us to move large distances."

Moving his fingers upwards, inching them ever so slowly until they rested on the tip of her chin, the Uchiha tapped his thumb along her face, clearly in thought. After about a minute, he spoke, sending cold fear down this girls body.

"I think your _lying._ "

Erin almost instantly searched his face frantically as she feared what he would do. "I-I'm not! I-I swear, I wouldn't lie..." She felt his grip tighten as she could almost feel bruises being added to her collection. "I-I wouldn't lie, not to an Uchiha..." She looked downwards avoiding his gaze. Suddenly, ever so slightly she felt his hand loosen ever so slightly. "Y-your eyes..."

Itachi was curious at the fact that a civilian like her knew his surname. It has been many years since a Uchiha was in the area. He felt a smirk grace his lips as her body trembled below him. "Do you know who I am _Erianna?_ " Erin didn't like the clearly fake lust in the way he spoke her name. _Why did I have to tell him my full name?_ She inwardly cursed herself.

"Who doesn't know who you are... Uchiha Itachi." She looked over to his partner, giving a slight nod in his direction. "His name is Kisame Hoshigaki..." She felt his stare burn holes into her skull, she couldn't help but bite her lip as the last word came out. "... Akatsuki."

His eyes turned cold as his hard grip returned. "...And do you know what crimes I have committed? What he has committed?"

Erin, fearful of her life, tried to pull her head away from his cold hands, but his grip was _very_ tight. Looking back into his eyes she could almost see his sharingan swirl, her breath caught in her throat as she muttered out "...I-I.." She _really_ didn't want to be here. "...I know..." Her eyes darkened. "I-I know more than I should..." She swear she could almost feel part of her jaw breaking off, she didn't know what to do. She closed her eyes, terrified, words exploding from her mouth. "I know about K-Kisame, he killed his teammates and superiors, and he is well k-known for his blood thirsty reputation. Y-you..." Erin took a large breath, trembling. "You killed your clan, leaving only your b-brother alive. I-I know alot about you guys..." Erin couldn help but notice how her eyes burned as the Uchiha's hands around her face tightened.

"I-I know _everything_! Everything about the both of you..."

Her heart stopped. It took her about a second to realise what she had done. She fucking didn't. Then she realised, she fucking did.

Itachi didn't drop his look, but his insides churned. Eyeing the girl, his heart too almost stopped, but there was no way she knew everything. No possible way. "... _Everything_?" He was clearly poking the fire now, the fire that seemed to go out in the olive girls eyes. "Such as?"

Erin looked towards Kisame, then back at the Uchiha, not caring at how it was now very clear she was panicking. She had _royally_ fucked this up big time. She should have kept her mouth shut, accepted that they healed her and see where they went from there, but she had to speak up didn't she? Erin just wanted to die.

"I-I really can't say..." Her eyes dropped down, dead, as now she knew she couldn't avoid it. Looking back at the fish man, she continued to speak. "...Not in front of him... _for your safety.._." She whispered the last bit, but he heard it clear as day.

The Uchiha didn't know if he should believe her or not, but if it was true, she was right. If he wanted to even think about talking with this subject, it would have to be away from his partner in a quiet location. He highly doubted she knew everything, she wasn't a kunoichi right? Though he couldn't help but feel his stomach churn at the thought. Itachi let go of the girls chin, turning off his sharingan giving her a cold look which his charcoal eyes. "...We shall speak of this later." Was the last thing he spoke to her, sending chills down her spine.

Standing up, Itachi walked towards his partner, lightly placing a hand on his shoulder waking him up. They whispered for a while, Erin noted, before Kisame stood up and assumed his place beside the fire where Itachi once was. The Uchiha laid down on his partners prepared bedroll, closing his eyes, lost in thought.

This was something he couldn't ignore, something he needed to confirm on a later date. He knew he wouldn't be getting much sleep that night.

Kisame looked towards Erin, smiling a tired smile, but it held a sort of crooked humour to it. "Now now girly, what the hell did you do to piss off my partner? It appears as now you are coming to the base with us." He toothy grin was the last thing she wanted to see.

She knew she had done it. She fucked up. She was dead.

 _I wonder if they have bleach at the Akatsuki base._ She wondered.

-x-

 _ **A/N: Thank you to everyone who have read this story so far! This chapter was quiet fun to write, I am enjoying the plot progression. To let everyone know, this story starts off being set Pre-Naruto, just to avoid any future confusion (Not that anyone reads the authors notes haha). But yes! I hope y'all liked this chapter :)**_

 _ **Some more facts about Erin: Though Erin may be only 19, she looks about 15-16 on a good day. All her family looks quiet young for their age, her mom back when she was alive looked about 25 when she was well into her late 30's.**_

 _ **Anyways – see y'all next chapter :) It will be quiet fun haha.**_

 _ **If you see any spelling errors let me know! I'll change em asap :) Cheers!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Thank you everyone for the follows and favourites! I'm still super happy to know that you guys are following along – warms me little heart 3**_

 _ **I would say it will be about, including this one, two more chapters to get the ball rolling before all the good stuff starts to happen – I know everything is rather slow right now so please don't kill me ;-;. Also, I willtry and create some smaller paragraphs, I'm not sure why but mine always seem to come out big and bulky haha.**_

 _ **Anyways – enjoy guys! 3**_

-x-

A large rumble was heard as the darkened clouds above threatened to rain. Erin looked upwards, various shades of whites and grays covered the sky fully, and the sun was nowhere to be seen. She sighed, bringing her hands up to try and warm herself up, goosebumps forming as the weather became cool and damp.

During the night she ended up returning the Uchiha's cloak to give him some warmth during the chilly night, the fire had died down and only the occasional spit was heard from the toasty logs that laid in the embers. She wouldn't dare go near the raven after the _eye rape_ treatment he had given her to get more information, so she laid the cloak beside his body and then returned to her spot in front of the dying fire.

Erin looked towards the blue man who had been sitting against the same tree Itachi had once sat, arms folded and listening to the quiet of the night. His eyes were open, laying upon the dying fire as if trying to find something to keep his mind active as sleep threatened to take. Covering her mouth to cough, Kisame's attention flickered to her, raising an eyebrow as the girl attempted to quiet her coughs. After about 30 seconds, her hands lowered as she attempted to catch her breath, puffing in frustration. Her eyes were puffy and glassy, it was clear she was in some form of pain.

Kisame shook his head, a stupid grin forming on his face as he reached into his cloak, grabbing his water. With quick movements the blue man threw the water towards the girl, which to his surprise she quickly caught it and placed it down onto her lap, looking towards the blue man. "T-thank you..." She said, her voice obviously strained from the lack of saliva she was producing. The fish man nodded, grabbing a large stick from beside him, poking the embers within the fire, creating a light sizzle as they settled down.

"Lightning fast reflex kid." Kisame spoke, watching a light tint form on her cheeks as she brought the bottle to her lips, drinking the liquid eagerly. She was thirsty, _very_ thirsty, Kisame could only chuckle to himself, his cheeky smile never leaving his face.

Bringing the bottle away from her face, a small cough came from her throat as she tied the cap back on and threw it back to the shark man. She closed her eyes as the feeling of a wet mouth returned, savoring it as long as she could. She laid back against the tree looking upwards to the sky, the cloud coverage was now thick, but she could tell the sun was starting to come up as a light pink hue lined the bottom of the clouds in the direction she was looking. She smiled, she wouldn't dare guess the direction the sun was rising. She had no idea where the hell she was.

"So, about my question earlier." His grunted voice caught her attention as she turned her gaze towards the shark. His full attention was on her, and she suddenly felt incredibly awkward. Though she knew a fair bit about the Uchiha'spersonality from the Manga, she couldn't help but shiver at the way he treated her. Erin subcontiously brought a hand towards her chin, mind racing as it played back what happened earlier. Was the way he acted an act? If not, how wouldKisame treat her? Erin knew his blood thirsty reputation when it came to their Akatsuki missions, though she didn't know much on him besides that anyways, his back story wasn't in as much detail as Itachi's. "What did you do to piss off my partner?"

Erin gave a lighthearted smile before looking towards the ground, twisting her feet around as she thought up a response. She had already fucked up big time, but she wanted to keep as much information from Kisame as possible. "It would seem I'm not the smartest girl in captivity..." She laughed to herself, wiggling her toes within her shoes. "Stupid and Idiot to be completely honest." Her words were true to herself, what she did really was stupid. "...I can't really say what I said, but it seems as though he doesn't believe me, and so I'm going to get naughty spankings over at your base." She chuckled to herself, a twisted one at that.

"Well well well, you have a bit of a sense of humor eh?" He looked surprised, but a smile was still pleasant to see plastered on his face. Tapping his fingers along his arm, the blue man seemed to straighten himself up along the tree, buttoning up his cloak as if soon they were going to leave. "What a pleasant surprise."

Erin blushed as it was clear the mood had shifted. It felt more lighthearted, she couldn't help but enjoy the refreshing feeling, it was similar to how she felt when he graced her with water. "You would be surprised how many things I have up my sleeve about my personality." She smiled to herself, still concentrating on her feet. After today she was finished with looking people in the eyes. "Besides I must have a bit of humor about this situation. I don't know where I am, I am being carried around by two men who seem to be making a fashion statement, and they don't believe a thing I say. So, I'm in quite the pickle."

Kisame barked, a little too loudly, the Uchiha to his side shifted his place a bit, though not lifting his head from the bedrollbeneath. Kisame noticing this, he lowered his voice before looking back towards the girl. "Fashion statement? You know not many people live making a comment like that towards an Akatsuki member." His tone was playful, it was quiet welcoming to her ears.

Finally removing her gaze from her feet, she was greeted with warming eyes. It was clear he missed some sort of conversation like this. Her eyes sparkled a little bit as his grin grew bigger with each second they talked. "I'm sorry Mr. Fish, I didn't mean no harm with my comment." She played with her fingers, occasionally glancing down as the rope dug into her skin, but she ignored the irritation. "Besides, the smile on your face doesn't say 'kill' her." Her words were true, and his smile turned into a smirk as the arms around his chest tightened.

"Who says I wouldn't kill you now?"

Bringing her hands to her face, she tapped her nose tightly, her own playful grin now present. "That is true, but you can also say judging by that goofy smile of yours, I'm a pleasure to talk to." She faked a tear running down her face, wiping away, snuggling into her shoulders. "It's an honor."

"You are cute kid." He stood up from his position and walked towards the fire, kicking up dirt in attempt to put out the fire. The sky, though covered in clouds now, a pinkish red hue now covered a good portion, causing Erin to look up in suspicion. She could hear her aunts words play in her head, soft-spoken.

 _Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning._

She couldn't help but smile as the memory filled her mind, her aunt and her sitting on the back deck of their house, watching the sun come up. Her aunt looked downwards, placing a hand on her nieces shoulder before speaking up softly. "Has your father ever told you what a red sky in the morning means?" Olive eyes looked upwards to the older woman, shaking her head in curiosity. The elder's mouth smiled, looking towards the sky, her hands holding on to the little girl with love. "Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning." Her words were simple, but Erin couldn't help but look at her in confusion. "What do you mean Pat?" Her aunt looked down to the little girl taking her hand to take her inside. "It means a storm is coming sweet heart." The walked inwards, but her aunt still looked towards the morning sky, a slight hesitation in her voice clearly audible. "Now let's go get you ready, your parents should be here soon to come and get you."

Erin smiled, giving a soft yawn. She wasn't tired, she had slept quiet a lot over the period of being here, yet still, her mind demanded something to do. Kisame looked at the girl strangely, taking note of her sudden change of stance. Standing over the now smoking pile of coals, his rough voice spoke up. "Hey kid, Whats your name?"

Looking back towards the blue man, she smiled. "I would shake your hand or bow, but it seems I can't stand up, but my name is Erianna, though you can call me Erin." Kisame nodded, but give a short smirk as he crossed his arms. "Can't lie, name fits you. Though, I will not be personally calling you that." His answer caught her by surprise, Erin couldn't help but look up in confusion. "I'll just call you brat." His toothy grin made her give a slight giggle, but she didn't mind not being called by her name, she was use to nick names.

"What ever you say fish." He barked a rather loud laugh.

Itachi listened quietly, eyes closed. The sleep he had gotten was little if any, and it had appeared the his partner and the girl had started to form some sort of relationship. He agreed with his partner, there was something about this girl thatseemed rather odd, a feeling he had never felt from anyone else, though it appeared to have a positive outcome on his partner, but the raven still wasn't sure about the girl.

What she said earlier ran through his mind again and again, what had she meant? _I-I know everything!_ Her reaction to what she said was evidence enough to cause his some concern, though he highly doubted that she knew anything important about himself, but it didn't help. The look in her eye as she made sure she had kept quiet around his partner. _For your safety..._ To think a girl like here was causing him to panic.

Slowly he opened his eyes and sat up, rubbing them slightly as he attempted to wake himself up. The two others had turned silent as the Uchiha had now made it clear he was no longer sleeping. "We should be leaving soon, it seems the weather will not coöperate today." Kisame spoke, looking towards the clouded sky as rumble of thunder rolled towards them. Itachi gave a light yawn before nodding, noticing this cloak laying beside him. Looking towards the girl, it was clear she had dropped it beside him, but he noticed at how she was avoided his eyes. Taking the cloak off the ground, he put it on with ease, patting it down to remove the slight dirt that had become attached to it during the night.

"Pack up." He looked to his partner and Kisame nodded, moving the things they had brought out around until the camp site was clean.

By now, Erin had stood up, leaning against the tree trying to see if she could walk without any pain. Taking two steps towards where she had dropped the Uchiha's cloak clearly didn't hurt her as much as she expected, but after about 10 steps, it was clear that she wouldn't be able to do any walking for a while. She grunted and made it to the closest tree where she placed her back along it, trying to keep herself upright.

Itachi watched with questioning eyes, pondering her words and her actions. Kisame looked at the Raven, taking a note of his sudden acknowledgment of the girl who he earlier couldn't care less if the blue man had slaughtered her right then and there. "Itachi." He spoke, breaking the raven out of his dark thoughts. He looked towards the fish, a rumble of thunder again proving whatever was coming in. "What shall we be doing about her?" He nodded towards the girl.

The Uchiha stared at her for a minute before fidgeting with his ring again underneath the long sleeves of his cloak. "We'll bring her to the next village, find someone to heal her enough so that we can make it back base without worry of her dying on us." He looked her up and down, noticing that she was watching them. "...We should also clean her up and pick up something for the weather."

His partner nodded before picking up Samehada. Itachi looked towards the girl one last time as he subcontiously slapped his forehead. He hated the fact that he was rather soft about the situation.

Kisame smirked a wicked smirk, walking towards Erin, teeth visibly exposed. "I'll carry her this time." He could see the shock in her eyes as she was suddenly picked up and thrown over his shoulder. "Sorry brat, need to do this before we get caught in the rain."

Another shiver passed along her body, the air turning cold to her exposed skin. A sudden burst of pain hit her as her weight settled along his shoulder. Her internal injuries were clearly something to worry about. She gave a heavy cough as she adjusted herself so that she would hang on for dear life with her tied up hands, it didn't help that she had a minor fear of heights but she would have to get over that quickly in this world as she felt the man jump up the tree, landing on a very high branch. Itachi soon followed behind, his sharingan now activated, as they proceeded to head to the nearest village, thunder rumbling behind them.

 _Don't look down._

-x-

It took them about 4 hours to get to their destination. As they arrived, she couldn't help but give a small smile. Slowly the two Akatsuki members decended towards the ground until they came to a complete stop, letting Erin down before they had entered the village.

Rain had started to pour down, and Erin was very wet and very cold. The two men had put on their hats and appeared to be dry, and Erin couldn't help but give them a small glare. She suddenly felt a cold chill travel her back as her eyes caught with the Uchiha's sharingan, quickly looking down in a poor attempt to avoid eye contact. She brought her hands to her chin, a bruise now evident as she remembered his cold touch on her skin.

Kisame looked to the raven, cracking his neck as he adjusted to the weight now being lifted off his shoulders. "What are we going to do about finding her help?" He spoke, a rough voice piercing through the rain. _He has a voice that could scare children..._ Erin thought to herself, still looking downwards, feeling rather awkward as the two men made her feel quiet small. Itachi looked at the red-head, his cold eyes piercing into her skull as he thought of what to do.

"We need to find a medic-nin. They shall be brought here to look over her. We cannot bring her to the clinic for the girl might run her mouth." His words were quiet, as he found himself walking towards the girl. "I'm going to take her to get some dry clothes. You find a medic, any means." Kisame smirked as he nodded. "Meet back here in an hour."

"Hai." The fish man darted away, leaving Itachi and Erin by themselves.

Itachi turned his eyes towards the girl. Erin muttered silent prayers as she forced herself to look up - feeling hisnonchanlant gaze. "Take out your hands." He demanded, and she quickly did so, fearful at how close he was. He untied the rope from her hands as she quickly rubbed them, thankful that her now irritated skin had a chance to breathe, but her mood quickly changed back as his voice, now cold pierced into her ears as he spoke.

"They will be placed back when we leave." She forced a nod, feeling embarrassed about this guy had turned her into a fearful prisoner. He could help but smirk as she tried to make herself as small as possible. "If you try to run away, you will be..." Moving closer to her, she felt his breath tingle her ear, causing her cheeks to heat up. "...Punished."

 _Fucking Uchiha_ she spat internally, she closed her eyes in embarrassment as she felt her cheeks turn a bright red.

He almost wanted to laugh, how easily he could manipulate this girl to turn from fearful to hot and bothered, but he kept to the smirk that was plastered on his face. Maybe the fact he was tired was causing him to act this way, but it was truly quiet amusing. Picking her up, he carried her bridal style towards the village, as they entered with ease. The few guards the village had were busy doing other things with their time.

The blush that stained her cheeks would not go away as the occasional glance of the villagers that scattered around the village would look at the two, making her feel like she looked odd his arms. "I-I can try to walk you know.." She spat out, closing her eyes to avoid the glances from the villagers. Itachi smirked as he shook his head, pressing her closer almost tauntingly.

"You could barely walk at the camp without any pain, what makes you think you can walk around a village in the rain?" His words were true, she didn't bother trying to fight that. She really couldn't walk well, but the fact she had never been in this position made her feel awkward and out-of-place, something she knew well when she was home.

Looking at the shops that lined the one large street the village had, they soon came across the only clothing store with a little of everything. Before they entered, the Uchiha finally placed down Erin, walking in without waiting for her. She sighed, rubbing her arms to try and retain any heat her body had left. Taking a breather, she started squeezing her shirt in attempt to get all the extra water out, not wanting to drip on anything inside the store.

Walking into the shop, she smiled as all types of clothing, jackets, you named it lined the shop. A friendly cashier welcomed her, but giving a worried eye as her clothing was _covered_ in dirt and mud. She waved shyly as she caught up to Itachi who now scanned the isles looking for something simple and cheap for the girl.

Erin couldn't help but gaze around the shop, taking in all the different colours and designs of clothes they had. This place was nothing like home. The shops she normally went to were filled with not many bright colors, but a large amount of now 'designer' items. Pastel pinks, plenty of beige, blues and reds, and then white and black for those who enjoyed the basic, but that was it. Though in this shop alone she had seen an impressive assortment of colours and different 'fashion' items for all walks of life. She smiled, her thoughts going back to the orange jump suit Naruto would always wear, and the green body suit Lee and Might Guy would wear. _What an interesting bunch..._

Itachi stared at the girl who laughing and smiling to herself as she appeared lost in her thoughts. He gave a glance around the store, landing on the jackets and cloaks. "What size are you?" Her eyes snapped to the Uchiha, noticing his sharingan was now turned off as if to blend in with the people. Pressing her lips, she looked at her shit, slowly flipping the inside outwards looking for a tag.

"Um..." Cursing herself for seeing a 'XL' printed on her shirt, she suddenly felt rather self-conscious as she scrambled her words. "I'm not really sure if the sizes here are the same as the sizes where I am from..." She bit her lip, looking towards the Uchiha, who was curious at her sudden change of tone. "I think I can pick out my own clothes... With girls you need to look at different sizes anyways because something always fits differently somewhere else, so its best if I do it." Itachi said nothing as nodded and gave her a quick glance before heading to the cash register to wait for her, curious at the way she spoke at him.

Erin sighed as she continued to walk through the aisles, taking note that her insides churned every time she took a step, but there was nothing much she could do about that. They were at least nice enough to attempt to find a doctor while they were here, no doubt they will probably steal her from somewhere but at least they were trying to heal her enough to make her live longer. Scanning her eyes through the clothing, she picked out two shirts and a pair of pants that appeared to be her size. She looked at the tags and blushed, almost excited. _Sizes ARE different here._ She smiled, a medium gracing the tag. She walked towards the change room and quickly changed clothes, enjoying the dryness of them.

The shirt she picked out was a simple dark gray/ almost black long-sleeved shirt. The fabric being a little thick, but it felt nice against her skin. The pants on the other hand were beige cargo capris, a few pockets lining the side. She looked at the prices in a attempt to save the as much money as possible, she found herself smiling as she found out they were cheap and they at least looked decent.

Walking out of the changing room, she limped over towards the jackets, placing the extra shirt back on the rack on her way there. Looking at the choice, she decided on a simple tan cloak with a hood much like the one Konoha ninja's wore in Shippuden. She smiled as the first one she picked up fit, again the size reading 'Medium'.

Limping over towards the Uchiha, Erin paid no attention to what he thought of her choosings. Itachi gave her a silent nod, thanking her without words that she picked inexpensive items. This was coming out of his own money, and though he had a fair amount saved up, he wasn't _made_ of the stuff like Kakazu. He nodded once more as he turned towards the cashier to pay, however Itachi was quick to notice the look he received as the man caught sight of the Uchiha's face. Quickly he wrote up the bill, a bead of sweat forming on his brow as he went to speak out how much their total would be, but as he looked towards the Uchiha again, he was gone, girl in hand, with money on the counter. Without hesitation the shop keeper made his way to find some guards to tell them of his findings.

Erin shocked about the current transaction looked at the raven with confusion, but quickly realised why he had done it. The shop owner _recognised_ the Uchiha.

Speeding down the street, they quickly arrived at their rendezvou point only to find Kisame there, tied up medic waiting as promised. Kisame smiled at the two, letting go of the ninja before crossing his arms, looking at Erin's new outfit. "Interesting." He spoke, smirking at the girl who closed her cloak up further in a poor attempt to hide her outfit out of embarrassment.

Itachi looked towards the captured medic ninja and untied his hands. His cold voice scared the man as he turned to look him straight in the eye, sharingan turned back on. "Heal her." He pointed towards Erin, his gaze never leaving the terrified mans eyes. "If you try to kill her in any way..." His sharingan swirled. "Then you will die yourself." Nodding like crazy, the muffled yet shrieked word _'Anything!'_ was all that was heard as the Uchiha pushed Erin in front of the man, who looked at her in fear.

Erin couldn't help but look at the man with saddened eyes, understanding that he must be scared. "Hello.." She greeted him with a half-smile, trying to get him to warm up to her, but it was clear by the tears formed in his eyes that her words ment very little. "W-what h-hurts?" He could barely contain himself.

With quiet words, she unzipped her cloak and lifted up her shirt to show black and blue bruising on her stomach, causing the man to look at her in complete shock. "I have some internal injuries that need some healing. Can you help me?" She gave a light smile as the man slid his hands down her stomach, attempting to feel the damage. "I-I think..." His words were rushed, she couldn't blame him though. She felt two dead stares on the two of them, and honestly the two Akatsuki members were _terrifying._

His hands glowed green as he began to heal her insides. She gasped, the feeling of cool chakra flowing threw her body was something she never expected to experience. She had no memories of Itachi helping her, so this was all new to her. Though it caused her a great amount of pain, she realized the damage that had been done was quickly erasing. The bruising had started to turn from black, to purple, and soon to yellow as he forced chakra into her body.

Erin smiled, she had never thought she would see this up close, let alone on her. Looking at the man, sweat formed all over his body as he put his healing skills into high gear, attempting to heal her as quick as possible.

Itachi and Kisame watched on close by, watching the bruises disappear and the bumps and scratches all over her face vanish into nothing. It took about 20 minutes before he pulled back, passing out from using most of his chakra. Erin moved around, noting most of the pain was gone but not all of it, and her chest felt rather heavy still, but she stood up, excited to move around. Kisame walked towards the man, making sure he would be passed out for a long time by hitting a point on his head, he laid him over against a tree.

Erin looked towards the Akatsuki members curious as to what was going to happen now, but her hands were quickly snatched up by Itachi, causing her to let out a yelp as he had returned the rope onto her hands. She looked up at him with sad eyes as she sighed, knowing that this was just a small break on their journey and they had to move quickly.

Looking towards Kisame, Erin watched as the blue man suddenly twitched, his eyes falling in the direction behind looked towards the village, pushing Erin towards Kisame as he caught signatures of the guards now running towards them. Erin went to protest the sudden push, but was quickly picked up by Kisame. Almost instantly they were on the run, gliding along tree branches, Itachi right behind. She was lost for words, but as she caught sight behind the fish, noticing at least 10 men were at the spot they once were trying to help the man who they had abused for her own well-being. Erin knew they had to do it, but it still messed with her heart.

Soon they were out of sight, and with that they were on their way to the Akatsuki base. No other words were spoken as they marched forward. Erin couldn't help but notice her stomach churning. She was scared, she didn't know what would happen, but she braced herself. Her eyes looked towards the Uchiha who spared only a glance before turning his focus to the tree's that lined their path. Erin swallowed hard as she looked down, eyes slightly watering as the wind turned her hair wild. Closing her eyes, she nuzzled her face into her arm, drying her tears as they continued forward. There was no turning back. She accept whatever fate had in mind for her.

 _I don't know what to do..._

-x-

 _ **A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter~! Reviews are always welcomed and greatly appreciated. How am I doing, is there anything I should improve on? Let me know!**_

 _ **Some more facts about Erin: She hates physical contact with men, for she gets incredibly uncomfortable. This is due to an event in her past that has caused her to become shy and sometimes unwilling to open up, even to friends and family.**_

 _ **Anyways~! Thank you guys for reading! Next chapter will be up tomorrow :) Glad you guys are enjoying it . Bye bye**_ _ **C:**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: Hey guys! Thank you for checking out last chapter! Your reviews made my day, I am happy people are liking the story so far!**_

 _ **Just a little bit of a warning guys, there will be some violent scenes in this chapter as Erin will be interrogated, so if you don't like the thought of someone being injured, look away, but otherwise this chapter pretty much is the start of Erin's life inside the Akatsuki – and it won't always be happy. Not in the slightest.**_

 _ **Anyways! Enjoy the chapter :)**_

-x-

" _Erianna, please go wake up your sister." A stern voice yelled from a loud kitchen, the sound of bubbling water and the sizzle of a hot pan almost as loud as the woman who spoke. Erin looked up from the television, sighing as she slid off the couch and marched up stairs to her sister's room, knocking on the door. "Emmy, mommy wants you to get up now."_

 _The groan of a small child was heard on the other side, shuffling and the occasional bump of toys on the floor was heard as the door flew open to show a groggy short-haired blonde. "Eri, what do you want?" Sluggish, her sister rubbed her eyes, clearly still half asleep. Erin smiled, reaching over to her sister and holding on to her, hugging her in a tight embrace. "Mommy wants you to come down, dinner is almost ready!" She said with a giggle, feeling her sister look up to her with big eyes. "Nee nee, what are we having?" Her voice shaked with excitment, the thought of food almost instantly waking her up. Erin could help but laugh as she patted her sister on the head. "Silly Emma, we are having spaghetti and meat balls!" She spoke happily, watching her little sisters eyes light up with glee._

 _The two girls raced down stairs as the plopped into the dining room, each claiming a seat for themselves. Their father looked up to the girls with puzzling eyes, but his mouth soon formed a heart warming smile as he watched his children talk to each other in loving voices. "Erin?" Her father spoke up, drawing the brunettes attention as a curious look was visible on her face. "Yes Papa?" She responded, kicking her feet against the chair. "Why don't you go help your mother in the kitchen? I'm sure she would enjoy the company." Erin gave a pout, she didn't really want to do this, but she sighed, giving into her fathers pleading gaze. He smiled as she pulled herself off her chair and went into the kitchen, walking towards her mother._

" _Mommy, is there anything I can help you with?" Erin pulled lightly on her mother's shirt, begging for her attention. Her mother drew her gaze on to her child and smiled, patting her daughter's hair with love. "Thank you for coming in here and offering Erin, but I am alright." Erin pouted as she looked up to her mother, kind eyes almost twinkling with a mothers love. She sighed, pulling her daughter into an embrace, hugging her softly whispering loving things. "You are such a sweet girl, I love you Erin." Erin smiled, hugging her mother back, her mothers perfume turning the room into a flower garden. She smelled lovely. She smelled just like a mom should._

" _I love you Mommy! I'll love you forever and ever."_

-x-

 _I'll love you forever and ever..._ Those words echoed in Erin's head as she opened her eyes, her short sleep leaving her still tired. Their journey had been long and tiring for the girl, almost 3 days of continuous travel with limited stops. Though her captors had been kind enough to let her stop for small things such as using the washroom, eating and drinking, and taking turns between each other with carrying her, they had spent most of their time running across fields and forests, trying to get to their base.

Bringing her tied hands to her eyes, she was fairly shocked to feel that her cheeks were lightly swollen and wet. She pulled away so she could inspect her hands only to see that she had cried. Sighing, she wiped the tears off her face as she looked forward from her bridal style position in her captors arms, she knew they were close, they were slowing down.

Looking upwards to see who she was being held by this time, her eyes were caught by glowing red orbs, fixated on her swollen face. She blushed as she noticed the Uchiha looking down on her, still not use to his physical contact. He mad her feel quiet awkward, and every time he held her she felt butterflies in her stomach. She wouldn't call it a crush, she wouldn't say that he made her heart flutter, but he certainly made her legs wobble with simple things such as his breath on her face.

Itachi looked at the girl, curious at the sudden appearance of tears during their travel. He felt her look upwards to gaze into his eyes and he greeted her half way. This girl was strange to him, it was clear she knew of his crimes but ye she had no problem with him holding her. He watched her lips quiver as a light pink hue appeared on her pale features. He couldn't help but smirk at their current position as there was no way she could escape him.

Erin brought her hands to her face, quickly getting a hold of herself before pink turned to red, and looked back at theUchiha with slightly frustrated eyes. Though she had said some things to make him curious, she really didn't know why she needed to head to their base, almost all she had said was that she had information on only these two. "Why are you taking me to your base..." Her soft words spoke, barely audible due to the presence of wind that had become a constant reminder that they were always on the move. She felt his grip tighten as his eyes moved upwards to pay attention to where they were going.

"It appears you have information on me and my partner." He said silently, his smirk now gone replaced by a rather cold and stone like expression. "If you have information on me and my partner, then you probably have information on the other Akatsuki members." Erin looked away, fumbling with her fingers as she bit her lip. He was right, she did have information on ever member. Though they were an evil organisation she found a fascination with the group ever since she was a teenager. Their stories had all been interesting, who they were, how the became to be, how they died, and what that meant. They were always the most interesting part of the series to her. Though she knew all these things, she knew if she let them know exactly what she knew it could and would fuck with the time line. She knew we was in a situation though where she would have to say some things about what she knew, or else she would be killed in some cruel and painful fashion. She sighed, as closed her eyes, wording insults towards the Uchiha, knowing that he could read her lips. With that he did.

Itachi watched Erin as she worded soundless insults to himself, he couldn't help but give the smallest of a smile towards the girls foolish actions. He watched every word she moved, curious about why she was doing this when she could just think these insults to herself. _What an odd girl._ He thought, returning his gaze to the mountain that grew closer and close.

Kisame looked towards his partner and noticed his interest with the girl. He couldn't help but flash a toothy grin as he watched the boy who he saw as a cold-blooded killer with little emotion turn into something he couldn't put words to. "Itachi." He spoke, catching his partners attention, his red eyes falling into his pearls. "If we are going to do it, let's do it here." The raven gave a slight nod as the pulled to a stop.

Erin opened her eyes with a puzzled look. Why had they stopped? She looked towards the Uchiha who had now moved his arms so that she would be able to stand on her own. She looked towards him, suspicious of his actions. "What are we doing?" She asked looking towards the fish man who had now crosses his arms. His smile was big, as she felt the air go slightly cold. "Sorry brat." He rough voice pierced her ears as she continued to stare at him. "Can't let you see the hideout, Sorry we have to do this, was enjoying your company."

She looked confused, but that was soon replaced with fear as she felt cold hands on her chin, grabbing her face and dragging her head towards the Uchiha's red eyes. Before she knew what hit her, Itachi's sharingan whirled, and in a matter of seconds, she felt the blood rush from her head and her knees go numb as a fast approaching darkness had started to consume her thoughts. All she could see was the Uchiha's cold gaze ripping into her soul, and if it weren't for her strong bladder control she would have easily pissed herself in fear. Soon the darkness covered her eyes and she couldn't see anymore. All she wanted to do was reach her hands out and rub them but her body had lost all feeling, and before long she felt her eyes close shut as she accepted sleep almost willingly. _Can't... control.._

Kisame looked towards the raven, watching as he caught her limp body, his face dead of any emotion. Itachi noticed the stare he was getting from his partner and just nodded in his direction, continuing their journey, fish following right behind.

-x-

 _Drip... Drip..._

"H-Hello?" The room was dark, the only thing that could be seen was the blinding like that was directly on top of her, making her the center of attention. The sound of dripping water rattled through the room as it was dead quiet otherwise. No footsteps, no breathing, nothing. It was rather uncomfortable.

Erin frantically looked around, attempting to see anything beyond the darkness. It didn't take long for her eyes to land on something, as three figures stepped into the light. With her eyes wide only then did she realise where she was, she was in some form of interrogation room, and clearly they planned to get something out of her. The first figure she landed on was Itachi, his sharingan glowed from the lack of light, his gaze was cold and his face held no emotion. Beside him, an orange haired man stood tall, a pair of Rinnegan eyes staring at her blankly, and finally beside him a blue haired woman stood right by his side, as if waiting for him to speak.

"What am I doing here?" Erin looked absolutely terrified as she talked, attempting to move her hands only to look up and see them chained and bound to the wall behind her. Pein walked towards her, crouching down to her eye level, causing the girl to shudder. His face lacked any expression, and he really did look dead, and though she knew his back story nothing had prepared her to actually reacting if she ever got to meet the real thing. _I shouldn't even be here..._

"It has been brought to my attention that you have knowledge on various members apart of this organisation." His voice was cold and held a serious tone. Erin bit her lip, looking around the room to look at the other two members who had joined them, only to see them staring at her directly. Swallowing loudly, she avoided his gaze but nodded, expecting some sort of harsh punishment. "Do you know who we are?"

"Y-yes..." She nodded again, turning to look back into his eyes, speaking with full honesty. "Y-you guys are theAkatsuki... A group of S class criminals..." Pein nodded in satisfaction, watching him stand up and pace around her. "Do you know what we do?" He continued pacing the room, listing to her response. "Yeah... Yeah I do... You guys are mercenaries, you guys do plenty of horrible things.." She looked down to feet and wiggled her toes inside her shoes, attempting to keep her concentration, the stares of her captors frightening her. "...You are attempting to capture all the tailed beasts... If not now then in the future, all for an attempt at peace..."

Pein stopped walking and turned towards the girl, who had now started looking at her feet. Walking over to her, he crouched down again and grabbed her face, turning her to look at him. Erin was shocked at the sudden action, feeling her neck become strained by the sudden contact. "How is it that you know our goal of peace? That is not widely known knowledge _girl._ " Erin looked into his eyes, thinking of how to deal with the situation. She had clearly went into too much detail, but she knew she had to release some information in order to save her life. Sadly, before she could even stop herself, she felt some of her old attitude come back, and instantly regretted it.

"A little birdie told me." _Wrong place, wrong time Eri._ The sound of a piece of metal running along skin broke the silence, and her eyes turned to the large pin that was now in his hand. Before she could process what was going to happen, she watched as that pin was brought and forced into one of her arms, missing the bone but causing blood to pour out of the wound. Erin screamed as the pain hit her, instantly regretting what she had said earlier. She hated her low pain tolerance.

"Where did you get this information." His tone was a cool as it was before, as turned his attention to the now sobbing girl. Erin shuddered as the pain caused her arm to burn. She looked towards Pein, her eyes red from tears. "I-I just know it, ok!?" She heard another pin drop down his arm, but before he could try and hurt her again, she kicked her feet in an attempt to take out her frustration. "I know a lot more then just that as well, ok!? Please don't hurt me again..."

Pein turned his gaze to her, Erin couldn't make out any emotion but clearly he was now interested in what she had to say. "...I can't say much... It could be detrimental to the story..." Erin was met with a raised eyebrow. "...This organisation has various members, not including your paths..." She felt a glare beam its way into her skull. "...You,Konan, Itachi..." She shifted her gaze to the floor, fighting tears. "Kisame... Hidan, Kakazu, Sasori, Deidara, Zetsu, and in the future, Tobi..." She swallowed hard, as he stood up again, twirling the pin in between his fingers. "...And what do you know of these members."

Erin looked around, by now trying to ignore the pain her arm was in, looking at the faces of Itachi and Konan. Itachi'sgaze drilled holes into her head, almost as if pleading if she had any information to keep quiet, but she didn't pick up that reaction, but she knew in her heart she couldn't tell. "...O-out of respect for your members, I cannot say much..." She looked back toward Pein who had now started to walk back to her. "...But I can give an example with you."

"Oh?"His voice peaked with curiosity as he now stood in front of her, him now hold the pin firmly in his hand. Erin nodded, biting her now trembling lips as she attempted to regain her composure. "The body you are using right now... Is your friend Yahiko..." She noticed his grip tighten on the pin he held. Konan too became visibly shocked, but her face quickly returned to normal in a matter of seconds. "...You, Konan, and Yahiko were orphans of war... You were eventually trained by Jiraiya who taught you various things like how to fight and how to protect yourselves..." The room ad become quiet, to which she was thankful for. "...Eventually he left and you guys would later found the Akatsuki... I don't wish to go into detail of what happened during the original reign of the former Akatsuki... Though I do know what happened."

Tapping his foot on the ground, Pein walked towards her, placing the pin back up his arm, before pulling out the one that stuck out of Erin's arm. Erin let out a shriek as the pain was brought back in full force, feeling blood pour down her arm every time she moved her muscles. It was clear it hadn't gone all the way through her arm, but it certainly would cause some issues in the future. Pein grabbed her chin, pulling her head to his and speaking in a very low voice. "We will continue talking about this on a later date. It appears I am needed elsewhere. Until then you will be held here as prisoner to the Akatsuki. We believe you hold valuable information that we could use in this attempt of... peace." He let go of her head and she quietly turned to sob, as the realisation of her actions now placed her in this doomed situation. They knew she had information, and they knew they could get it out of her.

Pein turned towards Itachi, who faced their leader and bowed in respect. "She will be placed under your watchful eyesItachi. Because of that fact that she holds valuable information, try to keep her from dying with the other members. If you are to go on a mission, you are to hand her off to the next member until you return, then she will be returned to you, and placed in your possession." The Uchiha nodded, bowing towards their leader as a sign up respect and then nodded. "Hai, Leader-Sama."

Pein nodded at his response, before leaning in closer to his ear. "If she tries to leave or tries anything stupid, you have the right to punish her by any means necessary." Itachi nodded again, and his eyes travelled to his leader's mouth which now held a smirk. Konan looked towards the girl, a hint of sadness growing on her face as she noticed how miserable she was. As quickly as it came it disappeared as she followed Pein out of the room, as they repaired for their own journey, for they were needed back in Amegakure.

As the pair left the room, Itachi's gaze turned towards the weeping girl, as he walked over to her, no sign of emotion on his face. He brought his hands to the shackles which bound her tightly and undid them with the key he held in his cloak. Erin's hands flopped down the moment they were released, and she brought her healthy hand to her face, rubbing the tears away as she sobbed. Itachi sighed, as he took the girls penetrated arm and re wrapped the old bandages she held on her arms from many nights before , trying to make the wound stop bleeding. After about five minutes of adjusting, he helped her up, bringing the girl to her knee's, wobbling a little bit before she caught her balance. A weak "Thank you." Was heard through her tears as he attempted to walk her out of the room.

Before they got to the door, Itachi pulled some rope from out of his cloak, tying her arms up again. Erin looked up to protest, but she noticed that his mind was somewhere else as he made sure she was bound. Allowing her to walk in front of him, Itachi watched her from behind, his mind racing through the scenes of the interrogation. Being a wielder of thesharingan, it gave him the ability to have a photogenic memory, and time after time, he kept rewinding her words as she attempted to make the pain stop. I _can't say much... It could be detrimental to the story._ What story? What was this girl going on about? He had no clue, but he did remember her attempt of not giving away any information of the other members.

Erin felt a hand on her back as the Uchiha guided her thorough the many halls of the Akatsuki base, passing various rooms with different signs, some looking clean, others drenched in blood. Trying to lighten the mood, she turned towardsItachi. "H-How long did it take you to memories all these hallways?" She internally cringed at her very clear stutter, she had to improve that if she was going to get what little of a backbone she had left. Itachi looked at the girl before giving a faint smile, talking very lightly to try and help the mood. Though he attempted to support the Akatsuki morals, he still had a hard time with watching and giving abusive interrogations, in many ways he felt bad for her, be he wouldn't let her know that. _I'm starting to become soft..._ "...To be completely honest, about three days." Erin gawked at the Uchiha, listening to his pleasant response. No attempt at trying to refuse talking. "Though that was only thanks to thesharingan..." Erin nodded and gave a small smile through her red and swollen face. The rest of the way the walked in complete silence. To be honest, it was quiet nice for the both of them.

-x-

It didn't take them long to get to his room. Though he wasn't thrilled to be bunking with someone, he had known this would have probably happened if he had brought her to the base. He unlocked his door and opened it up for Erin, allowing her to walk in first. Taking a quick glance at the surroundings, she quietly smiled to herself. _Just as I would imagine._

His room was fairly bare, his walls a light gray with almost a light tint of red, barely even noticeable, and his walls had no visible window. _We must be underground..._ She thought as she looked around the room. It had one bed, a queen at most, and the sheets and pillows were plain weight. Off to the corner, a black couch laid slanted, a throw pillow resting on one corner. Beside the couch, a small bookshelf laid, filled to the brim with various books, most of them looking fairlyworn from multiple years of reading them over and over. A lamp rested on top of the shelf, a few books scattered beside it as the shelf had no more room. She looked towards the floor, noticing the light tan hardwood that lined the floors. She wasn't sure what type of wood, but it was a fairly nice room, reminding her of home.

There wasn't much else to the room that she noticed besides the washroom that he had and his closet that lined with various Akatsuki robes and cloaks, as well as a few civilian clothes and clothing to wear underneath his Akatsuki gear. The door soon closed behind her as she walked inside, and Erin soon realized how awkwardly quiet the room had become, as Itachi walked over to his bed, taking off his dirty cloak, taking all the tools and knick knacks he held within it and put it in a dirty clothing bin that hidden by the long cloaks at the bottom of the closet. Erin noticed her own cloak at the bottom of the bin, only taking in that she had lost it at some point after she had fallen into his genjutsu.

Placing a hand on her wounded arm, she awkwardly stood there almost waiting to be told to do something. She knew this was his room, she didn't want to snoop around or do anything else to get herself in trouble. She felt his gaze land on her as he placed the bin back into the closet, walking over to her position. It was only then that she realized how they were roughly the same height. _I really hope I wasn't too heavy with him carrying me..._

Itachi stared at Erin, watching her attempt not to touch or mover around his room without his permission. He sighed before crossing his arms, inwardly thanking her that she hadn't gone crazy, looking through his things and messing up his fairly clean room. "You can use the shower if you would like, I don't mind waiting." Erin smiled slightly at his small act of kindness. "As for where you are going to sleep tonight, you may have the bed. I will sleep on the couch." With that he walked towards his closet again, pulling out an older t-shirt and some baggy sweatpants. He handed the clothes to her, quickly looking her up and down, before nodding to himself. "These should fit you, hopefully. I'll say ahead of time that I do not own any feminine hygiene products, though I have no problem with you using whatever that is in there." Erin nodded, watching the Uchiha walk away towards his bookshelf, pulling out what appeared to be a fighting tactics book and sitting down on his couch, losing all interest in her. Erin smiled lightly, and walked towards the washroom, sticking her head out one last time. "Hey Itachi?" He turned his head to look up at her, and she just smiled, closing her eyes. "Thank you." With that she closed the door, leaving the Uchiha to sit there and read.

Erin looked around the bathroom, taking note of how simple it was, but how also it smelled rather clean. Though she expected the Uchiha to be a fairly clean person, she didn't expect it to be spotless. It was a simple four piece bathroom. Toilet, sink, bath/shower, along with that a few racks that held clean towels and various bathroom items such as a few hair products and a thing of shaving cream and a razor. The walls were painted a dark gray but everything else in the room was white. She smiled to herself, walking over to the mirror that hung on top of the sink, but that smile quickly turned into fear as she looked at her appearance.

Her once vibrant hair had now turned greasy and dirty, her eyes had most likely turned permanently puffy from all the crying she had done, and various bruising had still made themselves present on her face. She sighed, moving towards the shower, turning on the hot water, stripping down her clothes and getting in. Almost instantly, she melted into the warm water that ran across her body, cringing a bit as the water touched her open wounds, but other then that, it was heavenly.

She was very quick and pleasantly surprised that the first thing she noticed that most body hair did not grow in this world. She internally jumped for joy at the thought of not having to shave every 2 – 3 days in order for her legs not to stab anyone. She grabbed a clean wash cloth that was on a rack beside the tub and have her body a much neededscrubbing, using the men's soap that laid at the bottom of the shower. She felt her cheeks get warm as she processed that she was in Uchiha Itachi's bathroom, scrubbing her body down with his products. To be completely honest though, he must smell good when he is clean. She giggled to herself as she grabbed the only bottle of shampoo and lathered her hair, enjoying the thought of having clear hair.

It didn't take her long after to finish up, for enjoy rather long showers, she was fairly quick, attempting to avoid using as much hot water as she could, leaving quiet a bit for the Uchiha she now bunked with. She smiled as she stepped out and dried herself off. Quickly changing into the clothing Itachi had given her, she looked around the various shelves that lined the room hoping to find some bandages. She noticed the lack of medication bottles, taking a mental note as she continued to look around. _Must be in the time line right before the original Naruto. He isn't sick yet, or at least isn't attempting to treat it..._ She thought to herself, finally finding what she was searching for. She made quick work of the bandage she found and wrapped her arm, the wound stinging as she touched around it, applying an ointment she found off to the side. Nodding at the result, she made sure the bathroom was cleaned before stepping outside, dirty clothing in hand.

Itachi looked up from his book, watching the now cleaned up girl pull out the bin that he had all his dirty clothing in, internally thanking her for being a fairly clean person. Her awkward moved amused the Uchiha as she was clearly not comfortable in this new environment, acting rather clumsy almost falling over as she pushed back the bin and walked over to the bed. Erin noticed the attention she was getting from the raven, and turned hot faced as she sat down on the bed, but she almost instantly calmed down as the soft surface touched her bottom, almost making her sink into the bed almost instantly. "Not going to lie." Her tone changed from awkward to pure bliss as after three plus some days of continuous movement and limited mobility, her body had ached from all the trauma she had sustained, but it yet thanked her for the soft surface of the bed. "I expected you to be clean, but not this clean. It's quiet nice."

Itachi frowned at the fact that she acted as if she had known him for ages. "Hn." He responded, closing the book he was reading before placing it down on the couch, walking towards Erin, sitting himself on the bed purposely going above and beyond to cause the feeling that he was a little too close for comfort. Erin blushed again at the sudden closeness of the raven, and tried to scooch away as far from him as possible, but he sat there silently, watching her actions. "Is there a reason why you are now trying to rape my personal bubble just as you had tried to rape my brain earlier?" Her words were sudden, and if it weren't for the Uchiha's current mood, he would have probably chuckled to himself, for besides the use of the word rape, it was quiet true. He sighed, crossing his arms and legs as he looked towards the girl who had now pushed herself against the wall.

"I hope you understand that we will be having a.." He moved a little closer to her, uncrossing his arms as if to make a point and dragging himself closer to her. Erin visibly becoming a tad irritated at the rather out of character Uchiha. " _Chat..._ " His words taunting her, he placed a hand on her knee, his light touch sending shivers down Erin's back. He smirked at the reaction, trailing a finger down her knee all the way to her foot, pulling his hand away. He had made his point. This was his room, he made the decisions. "...About what you said earlier. I am quiet interested in knowing what information you have acquired on me... "

With that, The Uchiha smirked as Erin's eyes stared at him, mouth wide. Standing up from the bed, he walked back over to the couch, and picked back up the book he was reading and continued on studying its contents as if nothing had happened. Closing her mouth, and swallowing _hard,_ Erin shook her head in attempt to get the very visible blush off her face. Climbing under the covers of his bed, she wrapped her whole body in the blanket, creating a clear mess on his bed, but she didn't care. She needed to remake her safety bubble. Closing her eyes, she let her mind wonder as the incidents of that day flashed through her mind, causing a multitude of mixed emotions. Shivering, she heard the Uchiha shuffle around and turn off the over head light, allowing a fair amount of darkness to take the room, giving her a better chance at falling asleep... And that she did, the sound of turning pages lulling her to sleep.

Itachi looked at Erin again and smirked at her odd place with the blankets. _What a strange girl_ he though to himself, placing the book down again, going to his closet to take out some clean clothing before heading to the shower. He looked out at her one last time before he entered, somewhat thankful what ever personality she had – had started to show. He had hoped it would be a nice change to the gloomy members.

With that, the sound of water filled the room, as the base settled down just in time for nightfall.

-x-

 _ **A/N: Big chapter! I know I know. I actually initially scrapped the flash back dream with the though of it being to cheesy for the story, but I wanted to put a bit of background to Erin's character, at least, to how her family acted and treated her.**_

 _ **Some more facts about Erin: Erin has plenty of food fears – that being certain foods or certain ingredients cause her to feel sick to her stomach, and she often refuses to eat them once she knows what is on it. For example, her number one most hated condiment is Mayo.**_

 _ **Thank you guys for reading! Reviews are always welcome – they help me grow as a writer! Please send feedback where needed~! Thanks :)**_


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